FCC warns companies not to skip income check for ‘Obama phones’

The Obama administration is urging companies to thoroughly check a person’s eligibility before providing cellphone service that is subsidized by the government.

The FCC expressed concerns [2]that wireless companies might be activating phones for the program, known as Lifeline, “prior to fully verifying the eligibility of such consumers.”

“[Companies] must verify the eligibility of a low-income consumer prior to providing Lifeline service to that consumer, and may not provide an activated device intended to enable access to Lifeline service to a consumer until that consumer’s eligibility is fully verified and all other necessary enrollment steps are completed,” the FCC wrote in a notice.